Manufacturing aircraft is a largely manual process, involving assembly of components into an airframe. Components are manually fitted, attached, and assembled by technicians on an assembly line. While in some instances, jigs and other devices are used to facilitate the assembly process, many of the procedures require manually measuring, positioning, and attaching components. One supply material that has been found useful in the manufacturing process is a commonly available adhesive tape, frequently referred to as “painter's tape.” This type of tape has an adhesive applied to one side allowing the tape to be easily and cleanly removed. Specifically, the adhesive allows the tape to be removed without leaving behind adhesive residue on the component, and with minimal pullout of the surface material to which it is attached. Such tapes are readily available in home improvement stores or painting supply stores.
This tape is used for a variety of applications during the manufacturing process, including positioning parts together during the assembly. The applications of using this tape during assembly are numerous, and hence many pieces of tape are used during assembly of an aircraft. After assembly, the tape should be removed and discarded. However, it is possible some pieces of tape remain, and the tape becomes a “foreign object” left behind after the aircraft is assembled. This is undesirable for various reasons.
Therefore, it is important to be able to detect and remove all vestiges of any adhesive tape used during the assembly process. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure herein is presented.